One door Rodriguez has made a habit of knocking on is that of Admissions and Financial Aids Officer David Illingworth. "Because she is a Slavic concentrator, there hasn't been a lot of financial aid," Illingworth says.

"She would come in and see about financial aid for her latest venture, and I would tell her, `I don't see how you will be able to do that'," Illingworth continues. "Then she would pop in two or three weeks later and tell me she was headed for Leningrad or Berlin, or somewhere else."

Sometimes Rodriguez has garnered financial support from fellowships and research grants. Other times she has managed to scrape money together from outside sources--a strategy she first utilized when her football-crazy high school refused to allocate any money to fund her trip to a national speech competition.

The scope of her travels has expanded since high school days, and international trips have become almost habitual. Rodriguez has studied in Moscow, West Berlin and Poland. And the Sherman Fellowship she won her sophomore year will take her to Leningrad after graduation. Her long list of honors includes the Radcliffe Murray Fellowship and the Lowe Foundation Fellowship, as well as two awards from outside organizations--one from the American Council of Teachers of Russians, and one from the Council on International Educational Exchange.

Her travels overseas have allowed her to immerse herself in other cultures, and to practice her language skills.

"Spanish and English are my natural languages," Rodriguez says. "I studied Russian for the last four years, including an intensive summer in Moscow the spring of my junior year."

"I was interested in Russian politics from the German view," she continues, adding, "I wanted to study Russia to get a better understanding of international politics."

While in Cambridge, Rodriguez has spent much of her time helping Soviet emigres adjust to life in America. She has been a volunteer at the Jewish Family Center since her sophomore year, and has worked with a Soviet couple for the last three years.

"It surprises a lot of people when I say I'm involved in it," Rodriguez says. "Most people don't expect someone Hispanic to be a Slavic concentrator. I was brought up in an international culture, and I know the problems of assimilating. I try to help them function in society and still keep their roots."

"I try to help my Soviet family with the little things," Rodriguez continues. "Going over the shopping bill, and explaining what an AT&T bill is. Some teach them with books; I try to help with the day-to-day living. I tell them to watch TV. It's the quickest way to learn a language."

To make ends meet, Rodriguez has worked up to 30 hours a week under Harvard's work-study program--but her own needs have never stood in the way of her contributions to others, and her jobs have often been service-related.

"I would like to say I have pride and did not have to work," Rodriguez says, "but pride is for those who can afford it."

She worked as an assistant at the Harvard Ukranian Research Center as a sophomore, where she researched and proofread articles about the Ukraine. As a junior, she served as an assistant to Professor Richard Zeckhauser at the Kennedy School of Government. Rodriguez has also interned at the office of the Commisioner of Banks, and has worked as an interpreter at Boston's Beth-Israel hospital, translating Russian, Spanish and German.

In between the paid jobs, Rodriguez has found time for volunteer work. In addition to the Jewish Family Center, Rodriguez has volunteered at the Lutheran Homeless Shelter, where she prepared and served food for the homeless, and at Centro Presente, a Central American refugee center.

And in between the jobs, paid and unpaid, Rodriguez has found time for academics. "I feel now that it hasn't been too bad," Rodriguez says. "If I get back a grade and it's only a B, I can't be upset because I have done a lot of things."